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Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr (February 25, 1949) is a retired American professional wrestler and promoter better known by his alias Ric Flair. Flair is considered to be one of the greatest minds in all of professional wrestling. His career spans 41 years and is noted for his creation of "Nature Boy" Steve Borden. Early life Richard Fleihr (Ric Flair) was born on February 25, 1949. In the opening chapter of his autobiography The Man Behind The Curtain, he notes that his birth name is given on different documents as Fred Phillips, Fred Demaree and Fred Stewart. At the time of his adoption (arranged by the notorious Tennessee Children's Home Society, later shut down for adoption fraud), his father was completing a residency in Detroit. Shortly afterward, the family settled in Edina, Minnesota, where the young Richard Fliehr lived throughout his childhood. After grade 9, he attended Wayland Academy, a coeducational boarding school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, for four years (five years total in high school) during which time he participated in interscholastic wrestling, football and track. As a teen, Flair took a summer job as a lifeguard at a local pool in Minnesota, where he received his first exposure to the wrestling business when he met the legendary Vachon brothers. In both 1966 and 1968, Flair won the state private school wrestling championship and was recruited to the University of Minnesota on a football scholarship, where he played alongside Greg Gagne, the son of Verne Gagne. Flair dropped out of college before receiving his degree, and he then worked as a bouncer at a nearby club, where he met Olympic weightlifter Ken Patera, who was preparing for a ring career at Verne Gagne's wrestling school. Patera introduced Flair to Verne Gagne, who agreed to take him on as a member of his training class. Professional wrestling career American Wrestling Association (1972–1974) Under the tutelage of Josh Klemme and Billy Robinson, Flair attended Gagne's first Wrestling camp with Greg Gagne, Jim Brunzell, Iron Sheik, and Ken Patera at Gagne's barn outside of Minneapolis in the winter of 1971. Flair met Patera when he was working as a bouncer after dropping out of school at the U of M after completing his freshman year there in 1968-69. They lived together for a while in South Minneapolis . Flair made fast progress, and in December 1972, he made his debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, battling George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski to a 10-minute draw while adopting the ring name "Ric Flair." Then weighing nearly 300 pounds with short brown hair, Flair scarcely resembled his future "Nature Boy" image. But he drew attention with his charismatic personality and ring endurance. During his time in the American Wrestling Association, Flair had matches with Dusty Rhodes, André the Giant, Larry Hennig, and Wahoo McDaniel. National Wrestling Alliance The Flight To Hell (1974–1975) In 1974, Flair left the AWA for Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic region in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA); and he soon captured his first singles title when, on February 8, 1975, he beat Paul Jones for the NWA Mid-Atlantic TV Championship. On October 4, 1975, however, Flair's career nearly ended when he was in a serious plane crash in Wilmington, North Carolina that took the life of the pilot, and Jim Crockett Jr. (also on board were "Mr. Wrestling I" Tim Woods, Johnny Valentine and Bob Bruggers). Flair broke his back in three places and, at age 26, was told by doctors that he would never walk again let alone wrestle. Flair conducted a rigorous physical therapy schedule, however, and he was able to walk with the help of a cane just six months later. The Birth Of RFP (1975–1977) With both his father and brother deceased, David Crockett was left to run JCP alone. David was inexpireienced and couldn't handle the pressure, during an interview he recounted his Father and Brother were haunting him every night screaming at him. During this time Ric became David's right hand man handling anything he couldn't, so when he heard of Crockett's struggles Flair offered to buy the promotion. After the deal was done Ric renamed the company to Ric Flair Promotions.